SO WE HAVE opened our little presents or we have finished fingering the
presents we got last night or perhaps we are even obscurely grumpy because
today is not a holiday that we choose to celebrate. Whatever our holidiac
affiliation, we can with good cheer participate in a Christmas quiz. It goes
like this:

1) In what country was coffee first cultivated? In what country was
chocolate first cultivated?

4) Each of the following groups of words is related to a single thing.
Your task is to name that thing: pronaos, acroterion, peristyle,
entablature; rostrum, swimmerets, uropod, carapace; drupelet, receptacle,
sepal, seed; briolette, baguette, scissors, brilliant.

5) Who was the last independent candidate for president to actually win
electoral votes? (Ignore the odd unearned vote cast by rogue electors.)

6) What is Aelia Capitolina? For extra credit, what is Yathrib?

7) What is the oldest college founded to educate black men in this
country? What is the oldest college founded to educate black women?

8) Let us select a date in the near future, say Jan. 1, 1997. At the
first moment that this date appears somewhere on earth, start a stopwatch.
At the moment there is no longer a January 1 anywhere on earth, stop the
watch. For how long did the watch run?

9) THERE FOLLOWS a
list of the 10 most populous cities (more precisely, metropolitan areas)
in the world. Some names are missing; please supply them.
1. Mexico City;

2. ;
3. New York;
4. ;
5. Shanghai;

6. Buenos Aires;

7. ;
8. Tokyo;
9. ;
10. .

10) Speaking of population: The largest English-
speaking city in 1800 was London. What was the second largest?

11) What is the birth name of the artist formerly known as Prince?

12) Rodgers and Hart, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter -- they all
wrote great American popular songs, but sometimes it's hard to remember who
wrote what. But you can do it: ``They Can't Take That Away From Me''; ``The
Lady Is a Tramp''; ``Anything Goes''; ``Just One of Those Things''; ``My
Funny Valentine''; ``Someone to Watch Over Me.''

13) You are planning an automobile trip of the 48 contiguous states
without visiting any state twice, and without traveling in Canada or Mexico.
You quickly realize that you must begin or end your trip with one particular
state. What's the state?

14) IN THE LATTER half of the 20th century, how did the Passions, the Warlocks and the
Quarrymen influence American culture?

15) In the famous pose of Rodin's ``The Thinker,'' which hand is touching
the face of the figure? On what does the elbow rest?

16) What American president married the daughter of an American
president?

17) For truly extra credit, who or what or where is the Dunmow Flitch?

Do not please mail jrcsfgate.com with the answers to these questions. This is not a contest; no prizes are given; I am indifferent to how well you did, although of course I cherish your indomitable spirit.